Almost Doesn't Count
by Arimas22
Summary: When a new character comes into the story, how do things change? What if Harry wasn't the one Voldemorte really wanted? Will her past change the school forever? I began to rewrite the early chapters, so they'll be coming soon.
1. Misunderstandings

1Yara looked up at the large stone castle. Her eyes moved over the familiar stone from afar as she thought of the year ahead, getting off the train.

"Yara! Hi! How was New York?!" a group of giggling girls passed her.

"Just fine you dumb Brittany Spear's wanna-bees." She said through her teeth as she smiled and waved at them. Why did they have to make it such a big deal that she was from New York? When people weren't harassing Harry Potter about his latest defeat of Voldemorte, they were practically stalking her. Begging for stories of the states, asking if rumors were true, wanting to know about how she grew up and what a regular day in New York consists of. Her usual answer consisted of "ten trips to Starbucks and at least one bitch trying to prove she's tougher then you." Yara pushed the thoughts aside as she began to crave Starbucks.

"Yara!" A voice called to her through the throng of students. Yara turned and looked around for the source of the voice, finally spotting the young brunette.

"Hermione! Your hair is smaller!" Yara hugged her friend.

"You mean shorter?" Hermione laughed as Yara looked at her.

"No, I mean small. You lost a good inch of frizz." Hermione laughed at this.

"I tried some new stuff but then I decided to mix a potion and tell my parents it was for school."

"I'm such a bad influence." Yara smiled and laughed, looking around for her other friends. "It's good to be back, as much as I miss New York. As soon as I got off the plane I had people picking fights with me. But once I got back home, God it was great. Hey! There they are! Ron!" Yara waved to the redhead and turned to Hermione just in time to see her bump into someone. Hermione motioned to turn and apologize when the person replied obnoxiously.

"Watch where you're going you filthy mudblood." Draco pushed her slightly. "Oomph." Was the next thing out of his mouth as a result of Yara's forearm being pressed against his throat and his back slamming into the still train.

"I'm sorry Draco, I'm apparently having some hearing problems. I thought I just heard you call Hermione a mudblood. But I highly doubt you'd be stupid enough to do that in front of me." She smiled sweetly at his as face slowly became paler. "I'm in a good mood today Draco. I don't want to have to choke you, but I will. Now tell me, did I mishear you?" Draco tried to sputter something out but was unable to form a word, so Yara relieved some pressure. "What was that?"

"You...mis...heard..." He rasped. Yara let him down and grinned.

"That's good to know." She walked away, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to help him up.

"So how's everything between you and Fred?" Hermione asked, not wanting to bring it up in front of the guys.

"We decided that the joke shop was more important, so we just called it off." Yara tried to sound as casual as possible. If she had been talking to anybody else, she would have been able to easily been able to hide how she truly felt. But not Hermione. She looked up sadly to her friend and suddenly noticed that she had grown. Yara had stood at 5'6 last year, the same height as Hermione. And while Hermione hadn't grown at all, Yara had grown about an inch in height.

"What did Malfoy say?" Ron ran up to them, Harry following.

"Something that wasn't very nice." Yara shrugged and Ron understood without having to be told.

"What happened?" Harry looked at them confused.

"Then maybe you should stop staring at my sister's arse." Ron looked at him. Harry look about to say something but was unable to think of it.

"Oh leave him alone Ron." Hermione took a moment to also look over her friends. They, too, had grown, both standing close to 6'2 and Hermione couldn't believe the muscles that showed from under their school uniforms. Everyone had changed drastically over the summer. Even Draco had become taller and more muscular.

"Come on, let's go to the carriages." Harry looked around to the carriages.

"Yeah." Yara nodded and the group began to make their way to the carriages.


	2. A Grand Entrance

1They piled into the carriage and were quickly on their way to the school.

"So how was rock climbing in Brazil?" Ron looked at Hermione.

"It was fine. I almost fell but it was fine." Hermione smiled.

"Almost doesn't count. You know that Hermione." Yara laughed.

"How was New York?" Harry looked at Yara.

"It was great. God I missed being home. The day I got back there was a huge party at my friend's place. I flew from the airport with my friend Richard and we barely got to my apartment before there were ten people at my door. So I just jumped in the shower really quick and we just drove over there. It was pretty fucking cool." Yara smiled. "But you'll see what it's like next summer." She grinned.

"What?" Harry blinked.

"You're all coming to New York this summer. Why? You got a problem with that?" Harry was dumbfounded when Yara said this. He had always wanted to go to New York. And after hearing about how the Dursely's had treated him, she told him that he would spend next summer with her.

""Are you serious?" Ron looked at her, while Harry rested in his shock.

"Yeah. I moved into a bigger apartment before the end of the summer. I'm subletting it to some friends so I'll have more then enough money for all the plane tickets. So we're all going to New York. We all get our own rooms."

"How could you afford that?" Hermione looked at her.

"I used to sublet my old apartment since I wasn't there for most of the year. To make some extra cash, I sublet for another month and lived with my friend." Yara shrugged. "And on top of that, I invested in some stuff that ended up paying off."

"Exactly how much money do you have?" Harry looked at her in shock.

"I have a lot saved up, I started working young and didn't really need much so I can live very comfortably." she once again shrugged. "Besides, you can be surprised how much money you make beating the shit out of other people."

"Anyway," Hermione tried to change the subject "what were you guys doing over the summer? You've buffed up."

"We played Quidditch and Ron's mum had us move a lot of stuff in the move." Harry replied as Ron opened a Chocolate Frog. "And the Dursely's had me moving everything Dudley was too fat to." Yara snorted.

"That kid is Jenny Craig's worst nightmare." she shook her head. Harry laughed hysterically and Ron almost choked on the frog.

"I can't wait to get to that feast. Food, food, food." Ron danced in his seat.

"Look at that." Hermione looked out the window.

"Pretty isn't it?" Yara looked with her. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ron observing Yara's body intently. Hermione fought the need to roll her eyes. True, Yara was beautiful but did he need to gawk. "Ron, they're called boobs and more then half the world's population has them. Get over it." Yara snapped at him out of no-where and Ron immediately turned his head out the window.

"Sorry." he muttered under his breath.

"It's alright." she smiled at him. "I know they're kind of hard to miss." She looked down at her large chest. "Hey guys, summon your brooms."

"What?" Hermione looked at her.

"It'll be a grand entrance...nothing compared to a flying car but I think the school would be thankful for that." She smiled at Hermione. "And we wouldn't be breaking any rules, we're not using magic out of school. We'll just ride them into the school and then send them back. No Problem." Yara recognized the look on Hermione's face. "Beside, it'll be a great so for the first years that can see from the lake. Make them really excited to be here...if that's possible."

"That's a great idea!" Harry's voice was elated.

"Yeah! Bloody brilliant! Please Hermione!" He pleaded with Hermione.

"Oh...fine..." she exhaled and they all pulled their wands and spoke together to summon their wands. Four small figured came into view in the windows as the carriage slowed to a stop. As Yara got out of the carriage, she grabbed her broom. And the other's followed her example, grabbing their brooms as they got out of the carriage.

"Let's go guys!" Yara said as they mounted and shot into the air, followed by Harry, Ron, and finally Hermione. Harry and Yara did a pattern of twists and turns in the air as they zoomed over the others. Finally, they formed a single line, with Harry leading Ron, Hermione, and Yara into the school. They lowered themselves to the floor, Ron falling off his broom and having to hold on till his feet touched the ground, Yara and Harry both standing and Hermione sitting side saddle. When they reached the floor, they ran behind the large door and sent their brooms back and watched as them zoom out of the main entrance and up towards the tower and observed the gasping crowd.

"You know, Draco got hot over the summer." Yara whispered to Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. Hermione looked at her, her mouth slightly opened. "Oh don't look at me like that. I saw you looking at his ass." Hermione blushed slightly. It was true though. Draco had also grown and filled out and his hair was no longer greased back and his eyes had become an extremely deep shade of silver.

"I can't wait to hear who the Head Girl is." Hermione once again tried to change the subject.

"It's you. Duh." Ron laughed, coming up behind them.


	3. Unenchanted

1The four of them made their way to their table and sat down, Ron looking longingly at the empty golden plates.

"Don't worry, we only have to wait through the sorting." Hermione said.

"But that's ages away!" he whimpered as the Sorting Hat was brought out and began it's rhyme.

"Who do you think is going to Slytherin?" Ron leaned over to Harry.

"The one that's crying." he laughed slightly. Slowly, the hat worked through all the first years, Gryffindor receiving twenty-five out of the hundred and five new students. Yara had been making suggestions about possible pranks on the first years when Dumbledore rose to speak.

"To our first years, welcome to Hogwarts! And Welcome back to those of you returning. As always, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden and I would like to extend a warm welcome to Professor Daniel Peterson, who will be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. I expect you all to make him feel welcome and not pull any unpleasant pranks." With that statement, he looked directly at Yara. She fought hard against the grin that struggled to show on her face. "Now, onto other matters. The Head Boy, from Slytherin, is Draco Malfoy." the Slytherin table erupted in cheers.

"Oh yay. We can all die happy now." Ron looked at them. Yara nodded, the same dull look on her face.

"And The Head Girl, from Gryffindor," The whole table looked at Hermione, all grinning and ready to cheer. "Is Yara Meade." There was a stunned silence in the hall as heads turned to Yara. Her jaw was dropped, a very rare event. Slowly, cheers began to resound through the hall. Hermione smiled at her.

"If it couldn't be me, then I'm happy it's you." a small sincere smile spread across Hermione's porcelain face.

"The Head students are to report to me after the feast. All Hogsmeade permission slips will be turned in the first Saturday of next month for all who have it."

"Can we please eat?!" Ron said a little louder then he had intended. The sound reverberated through the hall. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Since we all seem quiet eager to fill our stomachs after such a long journey to the school, let us proceed with the feast." He motioned to the tables and the empty plates filled.

"Food!" Ron and Yara exclaimed loudly together and began to pile food onto their plates.

"So how was everyone's summer?" Hermione ladled soup into her bowl, hoping for something warm.

"I tried to make a beatification potion for one of my sisters but the first three times, it ended up exploding in my face. Damn near singed off my eyebrows. Waited all summer for them to grow back." Seamus said, passing Ron the pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Which one of you sisters?" Harry looked at him.

"Rebecca."

"You should tell her to use bubotuber. It'll clear her acne, I use it whenever I start to have a break out." Yara said in between bites.

"You get pimples?" Seamus looked at her.

"Exactly. Couldn't tell could ya?" She smiled at him. After that, no one heard from Ron or Yara. They were too busy eating. After the feast was cleared away, Dumbledore rose again.

"Now since we are all stuffer to capacity, let us retire to bed. I will now meet with the Head Boy and Girl. Goodnight all, tomorrow you'll receive your schedules and Monday classes will begin." Yara and Draco stood and walked towards the front table as the rest of the students headed out of the Great Hall.

"Congratulations on your new positions as Head Girl and Head Boy. Now if you'll follow me, I'll take you to your new rooms." With that, Dumbledore took them through a small door to the left of the table and up a winding stairwell.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why was I made Head Girl? Hermione has much better marks then me and she's taken a lot more classes." Yara looked at him as they continued the climb.

"Miss Granger was our first choice for Head Girl given that she does indeed have the highest marks in the school. However, I decided that you would be..." The headmaster thought for a moment, thinking of the best way to verbalize his thoughts. "A much more amusing choice. Your class has been the most active since James' Potter's year. I believe you will be a wonderful Head Girl."

"Thank you sir." Yara looked down at the floor as it turned into a wall. When she looked up, they were standing in front of a large painting of a young woman looking lovingly up at a handsome man, A lonely tear was painted on her cheek. Yara's breath caught in her throat at the sheer despair in the young woman's eyes. "The Lady of Shalott..." she breathed.

"Indeed. I'm afraid you'll find that this painting is not enchanted. Although I've tried many times to give it life. However, the depth of sorrow in this painting makes it repellant to magic."

"I don't get what makes it so sad." Draco looked at it, cocking his head to the side.

"A woman cursed to lived in a tower, never being able to see the man she loves, and then finding out he loves another..." she looked at him. "You're a prick if you don't understand why that's sad." she looked back to the picture, he heart ringing in her chest.

"Now, now. I understand that you have your differences but I expect you to represent the school to the other students as if you get along and hopefully you would find it appropriate to put your problems behind you." Dumbledore looked at her calmly from behind his half moon spectacles. "Your password is Hogwarts. Inside, you will assign passwords that lead to your rooms. Have pleasant dreams and please try to put your differences behind you." Wit that, Dumbledore left.

"Hogwarts." Draco's voice rang through the now empty hallway. The portrait swung open and they stepped through. Yara's jaw almost dropped when they entered the common room. There was a flush crimson carpet on the floor, with a black onyx coffee table that rested in front of a golden valor couch. Candles floated above their heads, illuminating the room as a great fireplace roared on the opposing wall, being faced by two overly stuffed green chairs. Two stairs cases led up to doors with their house logos branded on the wood. It was incredible. Yara had seen some amazing houses but this was beautiful.

"I guess you wouldn't be used to such nice things." Draco sneered at her.

"Unlike some people, I'm not a spoiled little bitch." she snapped back.

"I, on the other hand, grew up with much better then this." Draco continued, not taking notice of her comment. Yara walked away from him, over to a pair of frosted glass doors. Opening them, she saw a large pool. "Not bad for such a dump of a school." Draco came up behind her.

"Do you ever get tired of being a dick?" she looked at him.

"Not at all. It's quiet fun."

"Telling house elves to slam their head into a wall isn't fun, it's sick." She brushed past him and up to her room.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want with my servants." he sneered after her but Yara didn't turn around to answer him. Instead, she opened her cheery wood door and kicked off her shoes. Seeing the large soft bed, she hopped up immediately and began to bounce up and down. "That's very mature." Yara turned to see Draco at her door.

"At least I don't have to be an ass hole to have fun." she sat crossed leg on her bed in one fluid, swift motion.

"Screwing the Weasley family isn't what I call fun." Yara was on her feet in no time with Draco pinned against the wall.

"If I ever hear you say anything like that again, I will kill you. Understand?"

"Awww, touchy about that are we?" Draco laughed. And Yara kicked him in the crotch. Draco's eyes tears with the pain and he crumbled to the ground.

"Bite me." she dragged him out of her room and closed the door behind him.


	4. Dreams and Nightmares

1Yara took a moment to look around her new room and was happy with the result. The carpet was a soft black and the walls were a light purple. She had always imagined the Head Students' rooms to be a regulation kind of thing, not customized like this. Her favorite colors, her favorite fabrics, her favorite woods and hobbies were reflected in the room. Even posters of her favorite bands and movies littered the walls. It was comfortable, to the extent that Yara feared, for a fleeting second, that she might get a little lazy just wanting to stay in the room and enjoy it. She had never put much stock in having her own room. Considering that she didn't until she was fifteen and had an apartment of her own. Even then, her friends were almost always at her place or the other way around. What precious little time she did have to herself, she often spent sleeping. But a whole room to herself. For a whole frigging school year. And one that was this comfortable. Yara could get too used to the idea. She laughed softly to herself. She was going to get spoiled, that was for damn sure. It was already pretty late as it was. All she wanted to do was slip between the sheets. Slowly, she drifted into sleep.

_She was running down an alley. There was a fence ten feet a head of her. She jumped over it easily and kept running. _

_ "Yara! Hurry up!" a friend in front of her called back and she sped up, quickly passing them. She skid around a corner and stopped dead in her tracks. It was on fire. The house was on fire...She sped up, running faster then ever before. _

_"Richard! The house is on fire!" she screamed back and ran ten blocks in a matter of minutes. _

_"Stay back Yara!" Richard ran up behind her but she had already taken off, running into the house through the front door. _

_"Danny! Steven! Lisa!" She ran through what remained of the hallway. She heard Richard running after her as she ran into the room. Danny was asleep on the bed, hugging Lisa and Steven was no where to be seen. She screamed for them but something drowned it, her voice strained in her own throat. The flames enveloped her and everything was dark. _

_Yara was in the basement. The one she was brought to when she ran away from the home. Danny was in front of her, speaking in hushed tones. _

_"She can't. I won't let her go that far. No matter how much it pays." Danny whispered fiercely. _

_"A quarter of a million Danny! That'd be more then enough to make that down payment we were talking about. We all promised we'd do whatever jobs came our way. And it would be so easy to her, she's come to close so many times." David tried to reassure him. _

_"And you want to encourage that?! Come on man! Think of what the hell that's going to do to her! She's only thirteen!" Danny's hand clenched as Yara watched through her eyelashes and pretended to still be asleep. _

_"Talk to her about it. You know the rules. If she says no, I'll never bring it up." David said in his soft voice, soothing Danny without meaning to._

_"Fine. When she wakes." Danny laid down behind her, wrapping his arms around her, sharing warmth in the chilled basement. _

_It was the job. She sat in wait behind a dumpster in the alley, watching for her target. As he came out of club, she stepped out of the shadows, an automatic outfitted with a revolver held in her hand. It was for the gang. For a better life. They took her out of the home, out of that Hell. Yara would do anything for them. But he turned around. And she saw his eyes as he caught her gaze. The most beautiful shade of purple she had ever seen. They were almost clear, yet woven through with shades of green and gold and blue. She could see the universe in those eyes. _

_"Your name is Yara and you're going to kill me." he said, in a voice that was aged beyond his young face. _

_"I'm sorry." she whispered and pulled the cannon up, aiming at his head. Specific orders, between his eyes. _

_"Do you know why I'm going to die tonight?" he turned fully towards her. She didn't reply. "I know things they don't want me to. You were told to shoot me between the eyes because I can see what's going to happen. I can see what's going to happen in the future, even your's." _

_"Psychics don't exist." she said, trying to make her voice and heart as cold as possible. "They're just con artists telling people what they want to hear in rooms full of smoke and mirrors." She began to squeeze the trigger._

_"Before you kill me, allow me to tell you this. You're future only gets worse..." his eyes became more stunning, more vibrant, piercing into her own amber ones. "...you will discover why you were made, discover your destiny, and fly higher then you've ever imagined. Cast spells with ease and attract the hardest of hearts. You don't believe in magic, but you will very soon. It will be entwined with your soul forever." He blinked and looked at her. "You may shoot me now. I forgive you." she pulled the trigger and the shot fired._


End file.
